®Planning appeal decision
Land south of Hamstreet Road, Hamstreet, TN26 2NR
Outline application for the construction of up to 140 new homes, formation of new accesses from Hamstreet Road, green infrastructure including landscape planting, habitat creation and open space, drainage infrastructure including a new pumping station, pe destrian and cycle routes, and associated works and infrastructure with all matters reserved save for access (excluding internal circulation)
- Authority
- Ashford Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Major dwellings
- Inspector
- Watson S
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- whether the site is a suitable location for development having regard to local and national policy for housing and accessibility
- the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the site and surrounding area, including the setting of the Royal Military Canal scheduled monument
What decided it
The very significant harm to the character and appearance of the countryside, combined with the unsuitable and unsafe pedestrian accessibility of the site and heritage harm to the Royal Military Canal, was found to significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits even under the tilted balance.
the benefits of housing delivery, affordable housing, self/custom build provision, biodiversity net gain, open space and economic benefits were significantly and demonstrably outweighed by the harms to accessibility, character and appearance, and heritage setting under the tilted balance
Framework references: 115, 117, 110, 129, 187, 202, 212, 213, 215
Plan policies cited: Policy HOU5, Policy SP1, Policy SP2, Policy SP6, Policy TRA5, Policy ENV3a, Policy ENV13
The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.